


Gnomic utterances

by Petra



Category: Dogsbody - Diana Wynne Jones, Magids Series - Diana Wynne Jones, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones, The Magicians (TV), The Tough Guide to Fantasyland - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Crossover, Drabble Sequence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 11:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18548593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra/pseuds/Petra
Summary: What would The Magicians be like if Quentin had loved Diana Wynne Jones instead of Christopher Plover?





	Gnomic utterances

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to greywash for pre-reading.
> 
> Set in/around and in response to the end of season 4. I am staggeringly furious with the writers, but they don't own my narrative brain. They can't stop me from wanting the possibility of hope, which is a hallmark of Diana Wynne Jones's work for me.

**Consult Toughpick**

**Magician.** Anyone who uses a form of MAGIC involving _mystic_ (OMT) hand motions. The natural enemies of GODS and LIBRARIANS. They rely on TALENTS/GIFTS that come from _pain_ (OMT). Magicians are divided into different disciplines linked to their _deepest inner selves_ (OMT). Magicians have access to FANTASYLAND and sometimes serve as KINGS, generally of the long-lost variety. This is a gender-neutral term in some lands, so the cautious traveler should mind their pronouns. The CHOSEN ONE may be a Magician, depending on your tour, in the form of a _callow youth_ (OMT) or a _spirited_ (OMT) girl.

*

**An angel whispers, "Dulcinea"**

Who's the magician in PHIL101?

Magicians suffer, Quentin thought, and pressed down on the wild feeling that made cards and coins leap around in his hands. Someone had shifted the books on the third floor of the library, set up an army of glass horses in a classroom, and mixed a cocktail that knocked out everyone at Thursday's party, but Quentin hadn't done anything. Even though he shared a name with a Great Magus, which was bad planning on his parents' part, whoever they'd been, he was as magical as a broken teacup.

If he had magic, he'd be special.

*

**As hard as grief or greed**

"I went to Babylon," the Monster said in its toneless voice. "It isn't that far away."

"Not the way you travel," Julia agreed. She ignored the candles on the floor as hard as she could. The Monster was going to wonder where Q was all too soon, and if it went looking for him before he and Margo got back, things would go sour. She asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Always," it said.

Penny said, "Me too," through clenched teeth. He was holding the whole Babylon spell.

Julia forced herself to smile and walk toward the kitchen. "Who wants tacos?"

"Me."

*

**A wild enchanter appears**

Alice cast the spell: one word, three times, no gesture.

A man appeared, tall and imperious, in a silk dressing gown with phoenixes on it and his hair mussed, a piece of toast in his hand. He looked like a deranged earl out of a romance novel in the middle of breakfast. He looked around at them and asked, "Whatever do you mean, calling me here at this hour?" in a cut-glass British accent.

In that moment Eliot knew two things: how he was going to answer the phone forever and that he had to steal the man's robe.

*

**But Siriusly, folks**

The physical therapy required to recover from a gut wound and months of being possessed by a hedonist, inhuman beast was no joke. In between bouts, Eliot lay on a couch, the puppy on top of him in a sunbeam. Sometimes he dreamed that the puppy spoke in words he understood to people, to itself, or maybe to the sunbeam. Eliot didn't mention his weird dreams to anyone; it wasn't a magic puppy, as far as he knew.

As he recovered, he took the puppy for longer walks, and it wound its leash around his legs, circling with canine vigilance.


End file.
